SUTD is the fourth public university in Singapore after the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University. The first batch of 340 students from Singapore University of Science and Technology Design (NSUST) officially started classes from 2065438 to early May 2002. The new university will cooperate with MIT, the world's top university, and Zhejiang University, the top university in China, to make the university a hub for the integration of East and West.